{{Infobox person | name = William Allen Jones | image = William Allen Jones.jpg | alt = | caption = | other_names = | birth_name = William Allen Jones | birth_date = c. 1831 | birth_place = Raleigh, North Carolina, USA | death_date = 1897 | death_place = Barkerville, British Columbia, Canada | nationality = | alma_mater = Oberlin College | occupation = Dentist | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = }}

'''William Allen Jones''' (c. 1831 – 1897) was a Canadian dentist and miner. He was the first practicing dentist in British Columbia under the British Columbia Dental Act.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Samba |first=Mugoli |date=February 11, 2020 |title=Activists, educators, parents looking to create black history curriculum for B.C. schools |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/black-history-curriculum-1.5460180 |access-date=2021-02-16 |work=CBC |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Early life and education == Jones was born in 1831 in Raleigh, North Carolina to Allen Jones and Temperance Jones. He had five siblings: James Munroe, John Craven, Elias Toussaint, Sophia, and another sibling whose name is unknown.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=William Allen Jones |url=https://bcblackhistory.ca/william-allen-jones/ |access-date=2021-02-02 |website=BC Black History Awareness Society}}</ref> William's father, Allen Jones, bought his family's freedom in North Carolina for five thousand dollars.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Petersen |first=Hanna |date=13 February 2022 |title='Painless Jones': B.C.'s first dentist was a Black miner from Barkerville |url=https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/painless-jones-bcs-first-dentist-was-a-black-miner-from-barkerville-5044946 |access-date=2022-02-13 |website=Prince George Citizen |language=en}}</ref> Allen attempted to establish a school for Black children, but it was burned down repeatedly by local white residents.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Kilian |url=https://archive.org/details/godosomegreatthi0000kili |title=Go Do Some Great Thing : The Black Pioneers of British Columbia |date=2008 |publisher=Commodore Books |isbn=9780978498153 |pages=133–134 |oclc=}}</ref> The family moved to Oberlin, Ohio afterwards.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Richard Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TgpMxb8Gex0C&q=oberlin |title=Barkerville and the Cariboo Goldfields |publisher=Heritage House Publishing |year=2013 |isbn=9781927527061 |pages=199–200 |oclc=}}</ref> Jones graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1857.<ref name=":4" />

== Career and later life == Jones moved to California after graduation, along with his brothers Elias and John, who also graduated from Oberlin College.<ref name=":1" /> The Jones brothers moved to Salt Spring Island, Colony of Vancouver Island in 1859 along with many other African-Americans under the increasing threat of California becoming a slave state.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-17 |title=Wells artist prints portrait of B.C.'s first dentist |url=https://www.quesnelobserver.com/community/wells-artist-prints-portrait-of-b-c-s-first-dentist/ |access-date=2021-02-16 |website=Quesnel Cariboo Observer |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |date=April 5, 2020 |title=A Traveller's Guide to the Buildings of Barkerville |url=https://issuu.com/barkervillehistorictown/docs/a_traveller_s_guide_to_the_buildings_of_barkervill |access-date=2021-02-16 |website=Barkerville Historic Town |language=en |via=Issuu}}</ref> William and Elias soon headed for Barkerville and participated in the Cariboo Gold Rush as miners while John remained on Salt Spring Island as a teacher.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=John Craven Jones |url=https://bcblackhistory.ca/john-craven-jones/ |access-date=2021-02-16 |website=BC Black History Awareness Society}}</ref> William Jones returned to the United States with Elias after the American Civil War ended in 1865 to continue his dental studies at Oberlin College. Elias opted to stay in the United States, but William soon returned to Barkerville.<ref name=":0" />

Jones began practicing dentistry after returning to Barkerville, opening a dental practice in 1876. He became known as the "Barkerville Dentist", earning the nickname "Painless Jones".<ref name=":0" /> He advertised his dental services in ''The Cariboo Sentinel'' as "painless dentistry", and used medicines to make the process less painful for his clients.<ref name=":3" /> No license was required to practice at this time,<ref name=":1" /> so Jones continued to practice until 1886 when the Government of British Columbia introduced a new Dental Act. Jones quickly obtained his license to practice dentistry under the new act on June 26, 1886, making him the first person to be granted license to practice dentistry under British Columbia's first iteration of dental profession regulations.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gullett |first=Donald W. |url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.3138/9781487596361/html |title=A History of Dentistry in Canada |date=1971-12-15 |journal= Journal of the Canadian Dental Association|publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4875-9636-1 |volume= 37|pages=136–149 |doi=10.3138/9781487596361 |pmid=5282630 |issue=6}}</ref>

Jones died of pneumonia in 1897 and is buried in the Williams Creek cemetery.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title="Painless Jones" - The Barkerville Dentist|url=https://www.communitystories.ca/v2/bc-black-pioneers_les-pionniers-noirs-de-la-cb/story/painless-jones-the-barkerville-dentist/|access-date=2021-02-16|website=British Columbia’s Black Pioneers|language=en-US}}</ref> Barkerville has since been restored as a National Historic Site of Canada. Jones's dental office is featured on Barkerville's main street, with chair and instruments on display.<ref name=":3" /> Jones's dental office completed reconstruction in 1961, with the British Columbia Dental Association being involved through the donation of equipment and assistance in exhibition development.<ref name=":2" />

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, William Allen}} Category:Canadian dentists Category:Oberlin College alumni Category:19th-century African-American medical doctors Category:19th-century American medical doctors Category:American emigrants to pre-Confederation Canada Category:1830s births Category:1897 deaths Category:19th-century dentists